LESSON 19 TEACHER’S GUIDE
All About Mice
by Lisa C. Moran
Fountas-Pinnell Level K
Nonfiction
Selection Summary
Whether seen in the wild or seen as pets, mice are interesting
animals. Their physical characteristics help these tiny creatures
survive in a world that is not always safe.
Number of Words: 549
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Nonfiction
• Description structure
• Organized in sections, including Introduction and Conclusion
• Habitats, characteristics, and behavior of mice
• House mice, wild mice, pet mice, lab mice
• Care of pet mice
• Mice live all over the world.
• People feel differently about mice.
• Clear language with conversational tone
• Writer talks directly to the reader: Maybe you like mice.
• Most are simple sentences that follow subject-verb pattern
• Some complex sentences
• Scientific name: Rodent
• Term for baby mouse: pup
• Predator names: owls, snakes, foxes, coyotes
• Mostly one- and two-syllable words with a few longer words: scientific, emergency,
immediately
• Color photos
• Captions provide additional information.
• List of instructions on last page
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
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All About Mice
by Lisa C. Moran
Build Background
Help students think about mice and share what they know. Build interest by asking a
question such as the following: What would you like to know about mice? Read the title
and author and talk about the cover photo. Explain that there are many interesting facts to
learn about mice.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and nonfiction features. Help with
unfamiliar language so they can read the text successfully. Give special attention to target
vocabulary. Here are some suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that this book tells facts about mice. Point to and read the section
heading. Mention that the introduction is the section where the author tells what
the book will be about.
Suggested language: Turn to page 2. The author writes that mice can live in places
with frozen cold or fiery heat. Think about the word fiery. Now finish this sentence:
Fiery means “hot as a _____.”
Page 3: Point to the italicized word Rodent on the page. Explain that this is the
scientific name for animals that chew, such as mice. Listen for the base word in
scientific. The base word is science. Scientific means related to science. Now read
the caption and look at the photo. How does the photo help you understand what
the word gnaw means?
Page 4: Tell students that mice are small so they can hide when there is an
emergency. Give an example of an emergency for a mouse.
Page 8: Explain that in ancient times, or long ago in the past, prehistoric mice
lived in caves. Point to the prefix pre- in the word prehistoric. Help students
understand that pre- means “before,” so prehistoric means “before history.” Point
out that captions can give information about the text. Call attention to the word
panicking in the caption. How does the mouse in the picture feel? Why do you
think that?
Now turn back to the beginning of the book and read to find out more about mice.
Target Vocabulary
ancient – very, very old, p. 8
immediately – right now, p. 5
emergency –a serious situation
and a need for quick action,
p. 4
mysterious –puzzling, hard to
explain, or hard to understand,
p. 10
fiery – very hot or flaming, p. 2
panicking – feeling terrified or
under great stress, p. 8
horrifying ¬ very frightening, p. 9
Grade 3
2
prehistoric – happened before
people started writing down
history, p. 8
scientific – having to do with
science, p. 3
within – inside of, p. 6
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Read
Have students read All About Mice silently while you listen to individual students read.
Support their problem solving and fluency as needed.
Remind students to use the Summarize Strategy
parts of the text in their own words.
and to tell important
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the text.
Suggested language: What did you learn about mice that you didn’t know before?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Mice have special body parts to
help them survive.
• Mice live in many different
places all over the world.
• Some mice live in the wild, some
live in labs, and some are pets.
• People have a wide range of
feelings about mice.
• The section headings give a
good idea of what information
will be covered.
• Mice have been a part of the
natural world since prehistoric
times.
• The captions provide facts about
the photos.
• A list gives instructions for
keeping pet mice.
• The author’s attitude is that mice
are resilient animals.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to choose a page from the text to read aloud. Remind them to
emphasize words that are important to meaning.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using
examples from the text. Remind students that some words have silent letters, such
as the word gnaw on page 3. Point out that in gnaw the letter g is silent; it is not
pronounced. Call attention to climb on page 4, explaining that the letter b is silent.
Grade 3
3
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Writing about Reading
Vocabulary Practice
Have students complete the Vocabulary questions on BLM 19.1.
Responding
Have students complete the vocabulary activities on page 11. Remind them to answer the
Word Teaser on page 12. (Answer: immediately)
Reading Nonfiction
Nonfiction Features: List Remind students that nonfiction has many features to help
readers understand important information. A list is one of these features. Explain that a list
can give information in a brief group of sentences. The sentences are easy to understand
and do not contain a lot of descriptive words.
Have students look at the list on page 10. Help them notice that a bullet point comes
before each sentence. Explain that the bullet points make it easier for a reader to find each
sentence in the list. Call attention to the first word in each sentence: Have, Give, Add, Play.
Explain that these sentences are command sentences; they tell the reader what to do.
Then have students choose a photo and write a short list telling the mouse what to do. For
example, on page 10: Get in the wheel. Start walking. Spin the wheel.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6.
Assessment Prompts
• Which words from page 6 help the reader know the meaning of within?
• On page 7, find the word that means almost the same as “fully grown.”
• Find the sentence on page 9 that shows how mice can be of help to people.
Grade 3
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support In Introduce the Text (p.2), use pictures, concrete objects, or
demonstrations that will help students understand the concepts and ideas in the text.
Don’t ask students to read any text they will not understand.
Vocabulary The words for a mouse’s body parts may be unfamiliar. Help students
name and identify teeth, tail, paws, nose, ears, and whiskers, using the illustrations when
possible.
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: What animal is the book
about?
Speaker 1: What do mice need to live?
Speaker 1: What kinds of mice are
described in the book?
Speaker 2: mice
Speaker 1: What do mice do with their
teeth?
Speaker 2: chew
Speaker 2: food and water
Speaker 2: house mice, wild mice,
lab mice, pet mice
Speaker 1: Name something that mice
eat.
Speaker 1: How does a mouse’s
size help it in an emergency?
Speaker 2: possible answers: seeds,
nuts, cereal, pasta
Speaker 2: The mouse can hide in
a very small space.
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Lesson 19
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 19.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
All About Mice
Target Vocabulary
Write words and ideas that go with the word scientific in
the web. Then create your own webs for the remaining Target
Vocabulary words. Possible responses shown.
Vocabulary
scientific
within
fiery
ancient
mysterious
emergency
panicking
horrifying
prehistoric
immediately
experiment
proof
scientific
laboratory
study
Read directions to students.
Target Vocabulary
3
Grade 3, Unit 4: Extreme Nature
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Grade 3
5
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Name
Date
All About Mice
Thinking Beyond the Text
Read the paragraph. Then write your letter below.
Your class is going to choose a class pet. Write a letter to your classmates
telling why a mouse would make a good class pet. Use details from the book
in your letter.
Grade 3
6
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Lesson 19
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 19.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
All About Mice
Target Vocabulary
Write words and ideas that go with the word scientific in
the web. Then create your own webs for the remaining Target
Vocabulary words.
Vocabulary
scientific
within
fiery
ancient
mysterious
emergency
panicking
horrifying
prehistoric
immediately
scientific
Grade 3
7
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Student
Lesson 19
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 19.23
All About Mice • LEVEL K
page
All About Mice
Running Record Form
Selection Text
2
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Self-Correction
Rate
Mice live all over the world. Mice can live in the frozen cold
of the Arctic. They can live in the fiery heat of the desert. Mice
are tiny, but they are also amazing. Let’s meet some mice.
3
The house mouse is a rodent. Rodent is the scientific
name for animals that gnaw, or chew. Rodents gnaw with their
front teeth. Their front teeth are always growing so they gnaw
to keep them from getting too big.
4
House mice are very small. They are six to eight inches
long from nose to tail. They are about one inch tall.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/99 × 100)
(# errors + #
Self-Corrections/
Self-Correction)
%
1:
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 3
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414192
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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